The Planetary Society has a new weekly Google+ Hangout time slot, Thursdays at noon PT / 1800 UT. This week, Casey Dreier and I talked about the Curiosity kerfuffle and NASA's future rover plans. Here's the archived recording.

Now that Casey has explained the budget implications of yesterday's 2020 rover announcement, and The Planetary Society has issued a formal statement, I thought it was time for me to talk briefly about science.

We're fighting for the restoration of NASA's planetary sciences budget to return to its 2012 level. What does that get us? New financial analysis from our sources in the scientific community provides us a glimpse.

We've had a great response to this advocacy push so far. Now that the President has been re-elected, our messages are even more important. Write today if you haven't, and spread to the word to your friends.

During my visit to D.C. to discuss Planetary Exploration funding with key people on the Hill, members of the Planetary Society gathered at George Washington University to hear the latest science results from NASA's Curiosity and Opportunity rovers.

Again this year I represented The Planetary Society at the International Astronautical Congress. This year, we met in Naples, Italy. This meeting brings together space scientists, rocket people, and spacecraft engineers from all over the world.

The Mars Program Planning Group presents its new plan for Mars exploration in lieu of recent cuts to its budget on Tuesday, Sept 25th. We also get updates on the Europa Mission study at CAPS 2012 in Irvine, CA.

In ten days, our members and supporters sent over 17,000 emails to staff members who create and influence NASA's planetary science budget. The public support is there. We're making difference but not letting up.